Pope uses elevator to board plane taking him to Malta

Pope Francis uses a lift for disabled people as he arrives to board a plane for his visit to Malta, at Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy, April 2, 2022. [Reuters]

Pope Francis had to use an elevator to board a plane taking him to Malta on Saturday, with Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni saying it was to "avoid unnecessary strain".

It was the first time in the pope's 36 trips abroad that he did not walk up the plane steps on his own. The 85-year-old pope, who is making a two-day visit to Malta, suffers from sciatica, a nerve condition that causes pain in his legs.

Francis was forced to cancel a trip to Florence in February and did not take part in the Ash Wednesday services this year because of an acute flare-up of pain in his knee.

The pope was hospitalised for 11 days in July for surgery to remove part of his colon. After a period of rest, he made a gruelling trip to Hungary and Slovakia in September.

He has been in general good health since but has occasionally complained of pain in his leg and knee.

Pope Francis arrives to board a plane for his visit to Malta, at Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy, April 2, 2022. [Reuters]

Pope Francis had on Friday issued a historic apology to Canadian indigenous peoples for the Roman Catholic Church's role in residential schools that sought to erase their cultures and where many children suffered abuse and were buried in unmarked graves.

Francis, in an address to native leaders after meetings with delegates from various indigenous nations, also said he hoped to visit Canada in July.

One of the leaders, who want the pope to make the apology directly to their communities in their native lands in Canada, called his words "historic" and another said they reflected the "entirety" of their message to him.

"For the deplorable behaviour of those members of the Catholic Church, I ask forgiveness from God and I would like to tell you from the bottom of my heart that I am very pained," he said, speaking in Italian.

"I join my brother Canadian bishops in apologising," he said. His speech in the Vatican's frescoed Sala Clementina was preceded by prayers by indigenous leaders in native languages asking the "great spirit" to bless all those present.

"The pope's words today were historic to be sure. They were necessary and I appreciate them deeply," said Cassidy Caron, president of the Métis National Council and the head of one indigenous delegation.

"I now look forward to the pope's visit to Canada."

About 150,000 children were taken from their homes. Many were subjected to abuse, rape and malnutrition in what the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2015 called "cultural genocide".

The stated aim of the schools, which operated between 1831 and 1996, was to assimilate indigenous children. They were run by Christian denominations on behalf of the government, most by the Catholic Church.